An on-again, off-again relationship that haunts the characters as well as the reader in sparse prose and minute detail. Every element, from word choice to mannerism to subtle gesture, is wrung out of each character’s social interactions and placed on the page with precision. Rooney excels at charting the characters’ thoughts and subsequent actions without stating them outright; she conveys the near-misses, the blips in conversation that could fix everything if only they didn’t consistently go unsaid, with a nuance that is relatable rather than manufactured. This is a book for everyone who over-thinks and replays their own interactions with other people, with unextraordinary, and oftentimes infuriatingly normal, people. Similar: White Fur by Jardine Libaire Pair it with: Homesick for Another World: Stories by Ottessa Moshfegh
Normal People by Sally Rooney, (List Price: $17, Hogarth, 9781984822185, February 2020)
Reviewed by Miranda Sanchez, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina